New Mexico Register / Volume XXX,
Issue 13 / July 16, 2019
PUBLIC RULE
HEARING AND REGULAR BOARD MEETING
The
New Mexico Massage Therapy Board will hold a rule hearing on Tuesday, August 27,
2019, at 10:00 a.m. Following the rule
hearing, the Board will convene a board meeting to consider adoption of the
rules and address regular business. The
rule hearing and board meeting will be held at the New Mexico Regulation and
Licensing Department, 2550 Cerrillos Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the Rio
Grande Room.
The
purpose of the rule hearing is to consider proposed amendments to the following
rules:
16.7.1
NMAC - General Provisions
16.7.2
NMAC - Professional Conduct
16.7.3
NMAC - Fees
16.7.4
NMAC - Requirements for Licensure
16.7.5
NMAC - Requirements for Schools
16.7.6
NMAC - Requirements for Instructors
16.7.7
NMAC - Students
16.7.10
NMAC - Examinations
16.7.11
NMAC - Continuing Education
16.7.12
NMAC - License/Registration Renewal
16.7.14
NMAC - Complaints
16.7.16
NMAC - Parental Responsibility Act
The
changes to Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 16 of the Board’s
rules are primarily intended to address the significant changes to the Massage
Therapy Practice Act, Sections 61-12C-1 to-28 NMSA 1978 (1991, as
amended through 2019) (the “Act”), which occurred this past Legislative
Session. See S.B. 200, 54th Leg., 1st
Sess. (N.M. 2019), available at
https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/19%20Regular/final/SB0200.pdf. The most significant of these changes to the
Act was to deregulate massage therapy instructors. The changes to the Board’s rules, therefore,
are primarily intended to remove rules pertaining to massage therapy
instructors and heavily revise rules addressing continuing education. More broadly, the rule changes are intended to
comply with the provisions of the Act, incorporate more consistent terminology,
and clarify existing provisions.
To
obtain and review copies of the proposed changes you may go to the Board’s
website at: http://www.rld.state.nm.us/boards/Massage_Therapy_Rules_and_Laws.aspx,
or contact the Boards and Commissions Division at (505) 476-4622.
The
Board is currently accepting public comments on the proposed amendments. Please submit written comments on the proposed
changes to Martha Gallegos, Acting Board Administrator, via electronic mail at massage.board@state.nm.us or by regular mail at P.O. Box 25101,
Santa Fe, NM 87504, no later than Monday, August 26, 2019. Persons will also be given the opportunity to
present their comments at the rule hearing.
All written comments will be posted to the Board’s website at: http://www.rld.state.nm.us/boards/Massage_Therapy_Rules_and_Laws.aspx,
no more than three business days following receipt to allow for public view.
An
individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified
sign language interpreter, or other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend
or participate in the hearing, please contact Martha Gallegos, Acting Board
Administrator at (505) 476-4622.
Statutory Authority: The Massage Therapy Practice Act, Sections
61-12C-1 to -28 NMSA 1978
(1991, as amended through 2019), among other provisions, specifically
authorizes the Board to “adopt and file … rules necessary to carry out the
provisions of the Massage Therapy Practice Act.”
Summary of
Proposed Changes:
In
addition to making minor clarification changes and removing all language
related to registrations for massage therapy instructors, the proposed rules
are summarized as follows:
16.7.1 NMAC - General
Provisions
The
amendments to Part 1 add new definitions for the terms “curriculum,”
“syllabus,” “Continuing Education Provider,” and “Non-Continuing Education
Provider.” Provisions pertaining to
scope of practice and the definition of massage therapy would be amended to
mirror those found in the Massage Therapy Practice Act (the “Act”).
16.7.2 NMAC - Professional
Conduct
The amendments to Part 2 Supplement the code of
professional conduct to provide that licensees and applicants may not be
convicted of any crime that substantially relates to the qualifications,
functions, and duties of a massage therapist.
16.7.3 NMAC - Fees
The
amendments to Part 3 add new fees (as authorized by Senate Bill 200 this past
Legislative Session) pertaining to continuing education courses.
16.7.4 NMAC - Requirements
for Licensure
The
amendments to Part 4 replace existing language pertaining to licensure
exemptions with language found directly in the Act. In addition, the amendments
propose to authorize the Board to, in the future, accept other licensing or
certification exams beyond those already specifically accepted.
16.7.5 NMAC - Requirements
for Schools
The
amendments to Part 5 add new provisions setting qualifications and required
documentation for instructors and teaching assistants within registered massage
therapy schools’ minimum curricula, as authorized by Senate Bill 200 this past
Legislative Session. Instructors within
the minimum curricula would be required to hold a valid New Mexico massage
therapy license, have completed at least fifty contact hours of teaching
instruction, and have practiced massage therapy for a minimum of two years out
of the past three. Schools would be
required to submit documentation to that end.
16.7.6 NMAC - Requirements
for Instructors
Part
6, which previously regulated massage therapy instructors, would be repealed in
its entirety, as effectively mandated by Senate Bill 200 this past Legislative
Session.
16.7.7 NMAC - Students
The
amendments to Part 7 exclusively remove all language related to registrations
for massage therapy instructors.
16.7.10 NMAC -
Examinations
The
amendments to Part 10 would include language similar to that in the amendments
to Part 4 with respect to licensing examinations. Specifically, the amendments would allow
applicants to take a licensing examination that itself had previously been
approved by the Board.
16.7.11 NMAC -
Continuing Education
The
amendments to Part 11 propose significant changes to licensees’ continuing
education requirements as effectively mandated by Senate Bill 200 this past
Legislative Session. Specifically, the
Board would utilize a two-track process for approving continuing education
courses, differentiating between those courses taught by “Continuing Education
Providers” and “Non-Continuing Education Providers.” While the Board would accept either towards a
licensee’s continuing education requirements, the approval process differs
among providers as set forth in greater detail in the amended rule. The Board would utilize a ten-percent audit
and ninety-percent attestation process to ensure compliance among licensees.
16.7.12 NMAC -
License/Registration Renewal
The
amendments to Part 12 are exclusively clarification changes and other
alterations removing all language related to registrations for massage therapy
instructors.
16.7.14 NMAC -
Complaints
The
amendments to Part 14 are exclusively clarification changes and other
alterations removing all language related to registrations for massage therapy
instructors.
16.7.16 NMAC -
Parental Responsibility Act
The
amendments to Part 16 exclusively remove all language related to registrations
for massage therapy instructors.